Russia

Russia exploits football as soft-power tool but it also helped forge Ukraine’s identity | Jonathan Wilson

05-Mar-2022 20:00:32 | The Guardian

The Kyiv Death Match of 1942 has resonance in the present context of conflict but its significance is complex

Josef Kordik was sitting in a cafe in Kyiv when a bedraggled man on the street caught his eye. That, he was sure, was Myklova Trusevych, the great Dynamo goalkeeper. He rushed outside. It was spring 1942, a few months after the city had fallen to the Nazis.

Kordik was a Moravian who had been left behind after fighting for Austria-Hungary in the first world war. He had not enjoyed his new life and watching football had been his only joy, but the occupation had meant opportunity. He had falsely claimed Volksdeutsch status and been installed as manager of Bakery Number 1.